By the fifteenth century, Venice had a trading network that went in all directions, as you can see in SOURCE2 . They had ports down the Adriatic coast through the Greek islands to Egypt, the Far East, Constantinople and the Black Sea. Venetian ships brought timber, grain, salt, fruit and wine from the Mediterranean. From the East, they brought silks, spices, drugs and jewels. People came great distances to do business in Venice. Many people came to live in Venice to do business, including Greeks, Albanians, Turks and Germans. Cardinal Bessarion, himself from Greece, was one of many immigrants who came to live in Venice. In a letter from 1468, he said, ‘As all peoples of almost the entire world gather in your city, so . . . do the Greeks.’
SOURCE2 Map of the Venetian sea-trade routes
Key
POLAND
VENICE
Empire/kingdom
HOLY
Tana
Trade route
ROMAN
EMPIRE
Kaffa
MOLDAVIA
HUNGARY
SWITZERLAND
FRANCE
MILAN
BLACK
SEA
Venice
SAVOY
Pula
ASTI
FERRARA
NAVARRE
Zara
Sinope
Trebizond
GENOA
LUCCA
Montpellier
Marseille
Spalatro
Pisa
FLORENCE
PAPAL STATES
Constantinople
ARAGON
Rome
Durazzo
Thessaloniki
Barcelona
NAPLES
Naples
Valencia
AEGEAN SEA
SARDINIA
Corfu
Messina
Palermo
Famagusta
SICILY
Cyprus
Siracuse
Algiers
Rhodes
Bejaia
Bône
Beirut
Tunis
Candie
Crete
MEDITERRANIAN SEA
Alexandria
Tripoli
0
250
500 750
kilometres
Source: Adapted from Patricia Fortini Brown, The Renaissance in Venice, pp. 12–13, The Everyman Art Library 1997. Map drawn by Spatial Vision.
SkillBuilder discussion Continuity and change
1. Discuss how Venice’s trading network changed by the fifteenth century? 2. What aspects of Venice’s trade show continuity with earlier trading practices? 3. How did the arrival of people from different regions reflect changes in Venice’s economy and society?
Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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